A Challenge to Win Over Alice! Part I
by Ginygroov
Summary: *Prequel to Story* Alice, the Princess of Hearts, is to wed at age 18. Now though, she's still a kid, but she already has young suitors vying for her heart! In this game, Alice's heart is the prize, and no one wants to lose...AliceXAll Rated T for some language.
1. A Princess Named Alice

**I do not own Diamond/Clover/Heart no Kuni no Alice no matter how much I wish I do.**

**Chapter One**:

A Princess Named Alice

In a country far away, a young girl ran around in the market place. She had long dirty blonde hair and green eyes. She was ten. She named Princess Alice Liddell, and she was princess of the Kingdom of Hearts.

The Kingdom of Hearts was a large country, and it was bordered by two other countries: the Kingdoms of Clover and Diamond. All of the countries were on good terms with each other, for the rulers knew each other well. King Liddell knew Queen Snowpigeon, who ruled the Kingdom of Diamonds, and Lord Gottschalk, who ruled the Kingdom of Clover.

* * *

Princess Alice had inherited her hair and eye color from her late mother. Her mother, Queen Caroline Liddell, had died six years ago. She had died of an illness that the doctors couldn't cure, but Alice was quite young when she died, so Alice didn't remember her that much. She only knew about her from the stories her father and the maids told her:

_They had said she was the most beautiful woman in the kingdom, and she was very kind: it was said that she took care of a baby rabbit who had been abandoned by its family. She had nursed it back to health and it was quite attached to her. She let it go a short time before she had died, and she was very ill when she released it. She had probably knew she was going to die, Alice thought, but she was very kind to spare it the pain of her dying and leaving forever. Yes, her mother was very beautiful, Alice had learned from pictures of her mother, but she was also very kind._

* * *

Alice happened to be at the market place because she was waiting for her older sister, Lorina, who was going to introduce her to someone. Lorina was the oldest child in the Liddell family, and Alice's little sister Edith was the youngest. Alice was the middle child, and she was the most adventurous.

At a young age, Alice learned things such as archery and swordsmanship, because her father, who had wanted a son, decided to raise Alice more like a boy. She practiced every day, and at the age of ten, she was already great at using a sword. She was still horrible at archery though, even if she had practiced for half the year.

She had just arrived from fencing class and still had her sword with her. Alice always practiced with her friend Ace, and he always defeated her. Ace was the son of a knight, who was best friends with the king.

* * *

As she ran around a corner, she heard some scuffling and yelps coming from an alley. As she ran into it, she saw three boys who looked like double her age and height. They were picking on a small young boy, and from where she stood, Alice could only tell that he had shoulder length silver hair and he wore very fancy clothes.

Alice realized what she had to do, but she knew that she could get in trouble for doing this. Making up her mind, Alice walked towards them and unsheathed her sword.

* * *

After a few minutes, it was all over, and the three bullies were lying on the ground. Alice kneeled down beside the boy whimpering in the corner, and helped him to his feet. He had began coughing up blood one or two minutes into the fight, and he was very pale as he stood up.

The small, thin boy turned around to face her. His silver hair framed his thin, pale, face: he wore a black eyepatch on his right eye, and his other eye was grey. He was as white as a sheet, and his lips were beginning to turn purple. Alice looked at him and thought, '_Is he okay?_' as she noted that blood had begun to trickle out of his mouth.

"Of course I'm okay! I can read your mind you know!" The boy yelled angrily as he furiously wiped the blood of his mouth with a purple silk handkerchief. He looked rather small, Alice thought, as they stood there awkwardly, just staring at each other.

"Aha! Nighty, I finally found you!"

Alice heard her sister's voice before she was knocked over by someone. As she looked towards the boy, she saw her sister hugging the small child as he coughed up blood and tried to escape Lorina

Lorina looked behind her and saw Alice.

"Oh, hi Alice! Meet Nightmare Gottschalk!"

"Wait a minute, this is the Alice you wanted me to meet!?"


	2. Alice, Meet Nightmare!

**Again, I do not own Heart/Clover/Diamond no Kuni no Alice!**

**Chapter Two:**

Alice, Meet Nightmare

The boy, Nightmare, wriggled out of Lorina's grasp and faced Alice. "Are you the person this lady," He pointed to Lorina, who was smiling and cleaning Nightmare's blood off her clothes, "wants me to meet?!"

Alice just stood there confused, why did Lorina want to introduce them? He's just some kid, she thought, there's nothing important-looking about him other than his name, Nightmare Gottschalk and...wait a minute,

"Hey Lorina, is this kid related to-"

"Yes Alice, he _is_ the son of Lord Gottschalk"

Alice was shocked, she now realized why he was so important! He was the son of the lord of the Kingdom of Clover! Their fathers are very close friends, and Lord Gottschalk did say something about having a son her age...and also asking her if she would like to marry him someday, Alice remembered with a slight frown.

Lorina took Nightmare's hand and walked in the direction of the castle. The castle, which was only a few minutes away, was a grand structure that had several floors above ground and was the tallest building for miles. The royal family and many others lived within it, but because it had so many rooms, only a few people can navigate it without getting too lost. Sadly, Alice was not one of those people...

* * *

**Three Hours of Wandering Around Later...**

"Argh! Where the heck is the stupid map!?" Alice dug through her bag some more and found nothing but a few textbooks, a muffin, and a cute doll, which she hid in her pocket. Lorina had decided to look for someone to ask, but since it was a holiday break, most of the workers were gone, and she was still searching. Alice was stuck with Nightmare, alone, in the almost deserted castle.

"S-so Alice, I-I never g-got to t-thank you," Nightmare stuttered as he blushed furiously. Alice looked at him curiously, "Huh? Oh yeah, you don't need to thank me for that. Anyone would have done that,"

He looked down at her, then nervously switched his attention to the bag lying on the floor beside her.

"H-hey, um, we should go and look for the map, and then find your sister..." He stared at the bag, and kneeled down beside her and began taking stuff out too. As they searched through it, they still couldn't find the map that Alice swore she packed.

After a few hours, Alice began feeling tired, and she rested her head against Nightmare's shoulder. Unbeknownst to her, he had already fallen asleep, and she was just about to drowse off herself.

* * *

Lorina came running down the hall, and in her hands was a map. "Oh, hey guys! I found a-! Oh my," Alice and Nightmare were sound asleep, hugging each other.

"Aww! This I need to remember!" And with that Lorina quickly took a picture of them napping. "I will always treasure this picture forever and ever!" she swore as she held the camera to her heart.

"Now, I need to move these two somewhere, maybe Alice's room?"

_ ~ End of Chapter ~_


	3. The Free Amusement Park Tickets!

**I have decided to split the story into two or more parts. This is the prequel to the main story.**

**I do not own the J/C/D/HnKnA**

Chapter Three:

The Free Amusement Park Tickets!

Alice opened her eyes and sat up. As her eyes slowly became adjusted to the lights, she suddenly realized she was in her bed. All she remembered was looking for her map, and then falling asleep, how did she get to her room?

_"Zzz...Alice...zzz...scary...zzz"_

Alice turned around. Nightmare was lying down in her bed, in _her_ bed!

Glowering, Alice pulled the warm, fluffy blankets off him. Feeling the sudden drop in temperature the boy hugged the closest heat source: Alice. Her reaction was not good at all:

"_GET OFF ME YOU IDIOT!_"

* * *

Alice was very red as she stomped out of her room. '_That idiotic boy_,' she thought as she stomped down hallways, heading for her sister, '_to try and hug me! Even if he was sleeping, that was horrible!' _She had left Nightmare in her room and made him promise to never try to explore the castle. She didn't want him lost, even if he was seriously annoying, he was still a guest and friend.(_Also, her hands were full with looking for Ace every day)_

_Left, left, right, down the stairs, through the halls... _Alice knew the path to her sister's room like the back of her hand but sadly, it was the _only_ path she knew. She walked through a door hidden behind a tapestry, and arrived at the door to her sisters room.

_***Knock, knock, knock***_

"You can come in," Alice stuck her head through the half open door, and said, "Sis, why did you put me in the same bed as that annoying Nightmare? You know we have a guest room near my bedroom, why did you not put him there?!" Her statement began to sound rather angry at the end, but Alice managed to look calm-ish.

"Ehhh...well, you guys seemed too cute! I just couldn't separate you two, I just couldn't!"

Lorina also laughed guiltily as she admitted to letting Nightmare stay there for a few days as well. '_They asked me nicely, it would be rude to say no_,'

Alice glared at her and returned to her room. As she reached her room, she opened the door to find Nightmare lying down on the bed, covered by blankets.

"_Zzz...took you...long...enough...zzz_"

"Hey! You're awake, stop pretending!"

"_Zzz...no I'm not...I'm sleeping...zzz_"

"Huh?! That's oddly specific for sleep talk..._GOTCHA_!" Alice jumped on Nightmare, and threw the heavy blanket off him. He let out a strangled cry when Alice landed on him, and he couldn't wriggle out of her vise-like grip.

"_HEEELP_!"

* * *

The next day, Lorina decided to take Alice and Nightmare to the Amusement Park. The owner's nephew, Boris, had given them free passes as a sorry gift because he had accidentally destroyed a very expensive vase. He also invited them over a while ago, so they decided to visit him.

The Amusement Park was in a perpetual summer, because, a long, long time ago, some magic went haywire and caused the area the park was built on to always stay hot and humid. After Gowland, the owner, purchased the land, he built the Amusement Park on it.

Because of this, the Amusement Park was still in use in the winter. Large crowds of people were always at the Amusement Park (the warm weather made it especially popular in the winter). The upper left section was made mostly of pools and water rides and is the most crowded. Next, The upper right contains thrill rides like roller-coasters, and were also very crowded. The lower left contained food stands and stores, and the lower right had fair games, skill games, and things like mirror mazes and haunted houses.(_They weren't as crowded,_)

Alice took a map of the park, and began to unfold it. "The entrance to the park is at the very bottom," Alice said, pointing to where they were." and Boris said he would be there, by the roller coasters,"

The walk to the roller coasters would take at least twenty minutes, considering how large the park was. A walk that long would be really tiring in the summery weather, but at least they had brought a bottle of cold water just in case.

* * *

Alice ran through the busy streets, dragging Nightmare with her.

"Come on slowpoke! We need to hurry up so I can show you to Boris!"

She dragged him down the crowded path until they reached a large roller coaster. In a bench nearby, a boy with bright pink hair and cat ears was sleeping. As they approached, his ears twitched, and he quickly sat up.

"Oh, hey Alice! Who's that?!"

"Hello Boris, nice to see you too," Alice said sarcastically as she patted his pink, fluffy head. Boris laughed as Alice stroked his ears,"Sorry Ali-chan, you look cute too!"

Alice blushed and smacked him on the head."Idiot! Anyway, this is Nightmare, he is the son of the Lord of Clover!" "So what!? He's not important!" "Hey! I am important!" They argued for a while until, Alice suddenly spoke up,

"You know what? I'm hungry!"

"Me too,"

"Me three!"

"Let's go eat!" "Yeah!" "Okay,"

They ran to the food carts and began getting as much food as possible because they were all filthy rich. Hot dogs, sandwiches, and every kinds of fair food in existence, all eaten. The food was very heavy, and they quite full as they stepped in line to the roller coaster.

"Err, is it a good idea to ride it?!"

"Of course! It'll be fun!"

* * *

**Thank you for reading, but I have a letter for you to read!**

**_Dear Readers,_**

**_Which character should appear next? _**

**_If you want to give me some ideas, you can put it in the reviews!_**

******_Yours truly, _**

******_ginygroov_**


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